#westover public library

[paludal-paws]

doms super snazzy oc masterlist!! / updated 9/9/24

playing god: (main oc universe where funny silly illegal laboratory shit happens. tldr godly powers and scientists with big egos don’t mix)

tropical miasma (heartbreak): maverick, frankie, viscera, andrew files (fakrie i must harvest your organs to become god)

tropical miasma (headache): elijah, apollo, kairos, locke, calypso, kennedy, FUND1P, helen (lost your job? well the only solution is to go back in time to get it back. jk TIMELOOP TIME BABEY)

anthogeist: campbell, savannah, salem, allen, cj, yule, felix, malcolm, petrichor (a cursed boyfriend and a grieving sister attempt to bring a dead man back to life. at the exact same time without each other knowing)

westover public library: miller, damien, elliot, karl (four three friends get trapped in a library! in an apocalypse!! AND ITS ALIVE!!!)

requiem city: corvus, august, jaiden, isaac, basil, john wolffe, walt, ratt, cameron, butterfinger + orion (the place all unused ocs go to die)

misc: brooklyn, jasper, hecate, floridian, nine, pollux + castor, ram + valour

[guatejimin]

religion and education

today’s library pick-up. luckily, my local library recently became fine-free, so i can take my time with this read. (generally, i am a slow reader.)

the synopsis of this book really intrigued me as someone who has been part of both extremely religious environments and academic ones. these days, i try to strike the balance between both and see how religion (or faith) and science can actually complement each other more than hurt each other. some will of course disagree, but i still think religion has very valuable aspects when it is not extremist. it teaches us humility, it teaches us not to fear, and it brings us closer to a higher power that is bigger than us and any other thing.

most of the time when people i know speak up against religion, they are referring to organized religion or are referring to their experiences coming across bigoted far-right Christians in the U.S. but can we, for just a few minutes, try to conceptualize other ways in which people outside this group practice religion? what about Christians outside of the U.S.? what about those Christians who form part of the left? what about other religions we may have never even heard of?

i would be curious to hear about Tara Westover’s own thoughts about this.

[birdlord]

Every Book I Read in 2019

This was a heavier reading year for me (heavier culture-consumption year in general) partly because my partner started logging his books read, and then, of course, it’s a competition.

01 Morvern Callar; Alan Warner - One of the starkest books I’ve ever read. What is it about Scotland that breeds writers with such brutal, distant perspectives on life? Must be all the rocks. 

02 21 Things You Might Not Know About the Indian Act; Bob Joseph - I haven’t had much education in Canada’s relationship to the Indigenous nations that came before it, so this opened things up for me quite a bit. The first and most fundamental awakening is to the fact that this is not a story of progress from worse to better (which is what a simplistic, grade school understanding of smallpox blankets>residential schools>reserves would tell you), in fact, the nation to nation relationship of early contact was often superior to what we have today. I wish there was more of a call to action, but apparently a sequel is on its way. 

03 The Plot Against America; Philip Roth - An alternative history that in some ways mirrors our present. I did feel like I was always waiting for something to happen, but I suppose the point is that, even at the end of the world, disasters proceed incrementally. 

04 Sabrina; Nick Drnaso - The blank art style and lack of contrast in the colouring of each page really reinforces the feeling of impersonal vacancy between most of the characters. I wonder how this will read in the future, as it’s very much based in today’s relationship to friends and technology. 

05 Perfumes: The Guide; Luca Turn & Tania Sanchez - One of the things I like to do when I need to turn my brain off online is reading perfume reviews. That’s where I found out about this book, which runs through different scent families and reviews specific well-known perfumes. Every topic has its boffins, and these two are particularly witty and readable. 

06 Adventures in the Screen Trade; William Goldman - Reading this made me realize how little of the cinema of the 1970s I’ve actually seen, beyond the usual heavy hitters. Ultimately I found this pretty thin, a few peices of advice stitched together with anecdotes about a Hollywood that is barely recognizable today. 

07 The Age of Innocence; Edith Wharton - A love triangle in which the fulcrum is a terribly irritating person, someone who thinks himself far more outré than he is. Nonetheless, I was taken in by this story of “rebellion”, such as it was, to be compelling.

08 Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, and the Dream of Becoming a World-class Metropolis; Sam Anderson - Like a novel that follows various separate characters, this book switches between tales of the founding of Oklahoma City with basketball facts and encounters with various oddball city residents. It’s certainly a fun ride, but you may find, as I did, that some parts of the narrative interest you more than others. Longest subtitle ever?

09 World of Yesterday; Stefan Zweig - A memoir of pre-war Austria and its artistic communities, told by one of its best-known exports. Particularly wrenching with regards to the buildup to WWII, from the perspective of those who had been through this experience before, so recently. 

10 Teach us to Sit Still: A Sceptic’s Search for Health and Healing; Tim Parks - A writer finds himself plagued by pain that conventional doctors aren’t able to cure, so he heads further afield to see if he can use stillness-of-mind to ease the pain, all the while complaining as you would expect a sceptic to do. His digressions into literature were a bit hard to take (I’m sure you’re not Coleridge, my man).

11 The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences have Extraordinary Impact; Chip & Dan Heath - I read this for work-related reasons, with the intention of improving my ability to make exhibitions and interpretation. It has a certain sort of self-helpish structure, with anecdotes starting each chapter and a simple lesson drawn from each one. Not a bad read if you work in a public-facing capacity. 

12 Against Everything: Essays; Mark Greif - The founder of N+1 collects a disparate selection of essays, written over a period of several years. You won’t love them all, but hey, you can always skip those ones!

13 See What I Have Done; Sarah Schmidt - A retelling of the Lizzie Borden story, which I’d seen a lot of good reviews for. Sadly this didn’t measure up, for me. There’s a lot of stage setting (rotting food plays an important part) but there’s not a lot of substance there. 

14 Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy; Angela Garber - This is another one that came to me very highly recommended. Garber seems to think these topics are not as well-covered as they are, but she does a good job researching and retelling tales of pregnancy, birth, postpartum difficulties and breastfeeding. 

15 Rebecca; Daphne du Maurier - This was my favourite book club book of the year. I’d always had an impression of...trashiness I guess? around du Maurier, but this is a classic thriller. Maybe the first time I’ve ever read, rather than watched, a thriller! That’s on me. 

16 O’Keefe: The Life of an American Legend; Jeffrey Hogrefe - I went to New Mexico for the first time this spring, and a colleague lent me this Georgia O’Keefe biography after I returned. I hadn’t known much about her personal life before this, aside from what I learned at her museum in Santa Fe. The author has made the decision that much of O’Keefe’s life was determined by childhood incest, but doesn’t have what you might call….evidence?

17 A Lost Lady; Willa Cather - A turn-of-the-20th century story about an upper-class woman and her young admirer Neil. I’ve never read any other Cather, but this felt very similar to the Wharton I also read this year, which I gather isn’t typical of her. 

18 The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months of Unearthing the Secrets of the World’s Happiest Country; Helen Russell - A British journalist moves to small-town Denmark with her husband, and although the distances are not long, there’s a considerable culture shock. Made me want to eat pastries in a BIG WAY. 

19 How Not to be a Boy; Robert Webb - The title gives a clue to the framing device of this book, which is fundamentally a celebrity memoir, albeit one that largely ignores the celebrity part of his life in favour of an examination of the effects of patriarchy on boys’ development as human beings. 

20 The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (And Your Children Will be Glad that You Did); Philippa Perry; A psychotherapist’s take on how parents’ own upbringing affects the way they interact with their own kids. 

21 The Library Book; Susan Orlean - This book has stuck with me more than I imagined that it would. It covers both the history of libraries in the USA, and the story of the arson of the LA Public Library’s central branch in 1986. 

22 We Are Never Meeting in Real Life; Samantha Irby - I’ve been reading Irby’s blog for years, and follow her on social media. So I knew the level of raunch and near body-horror to expect in this essay collection. This did fill in a lot of gaps in terms of her life, which added a lot more blackness (hey) to the humour. 

23 State of Wonder; Ann Patchett - A semi-riff on Heart of Darkness involving an OB/GYN who now works for a pharmaceutical company, heading to the jungle to retrieve another researcher who has gone all Colonel Kurtz on them. I found it a bit unsatisfying, but the descriptions were, admittedly, great. 

24 Disappearing Earth; Julia Phillips - A story of an abduction of two girls in very remote Russia, each chapter told by another townsperson. The connections between the narrators of each chapter are sometimes obvious, but not always. Ending a little tidy, but plays against expectations for a book like this. 

25 Ethan Frome; Edith Wharton - I gather this is a typical high school read, but I’d never got to it. In case you’re in the same boat as me, it’s a short, mildly melodramatic romantic tragedy set in the new england winter. It lacks the focus on class that other Whartons have, but certainly keeps the same strong sense that once you’ve made a choice, you’re stuck with it. FOREVER. 

26 Educated; Tara Westover - This memoir of a Mormon fundamentalist-turned-Academic-superstar was huge on everyone’s reading lists a couple of years back, and I finally got to it. It felt similar to me in some ways to the Glass Castle, in terms of the nearly-unbelievable amounts of hell she and her family go through at the hands of her father and his Big Ideas. I found that it lacked real contemplation of the culture shock of moving from the rural mountain west to, say, Cambridge. 

27 Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of Lusitania; Erik Larson - I’m a sucker for a story of a passenger liner, any non-Titanic passenger liner, really. Plus Lusitania’s story has interesting resonances for the US entry into WWI, and we see the perspective of the U-boat captain as well as people on land, and Lusitania’s own passengers and crew. 

28 The Birds and Other Stories; Daphne du Maurier - The title story is the one that stuck in my head most strongly, which isn’t any surprise. I found it much more harrowing than the film, it had a really effective sense of gradually increasing dread and inevitability. 

29 Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Faded Glory; Raphael Bob-Waksberg - Hit or miss in the usual way of short story collections, this book has a real debt to George Saunders. 

30 Sex & Rage; Eve Babitz - a sort of pseudo-autobiography of an indolent life in the LA scene of the 1970s. It was sometimes very difficult to see how the protagonist actually felt about anything, which is a frequent, acute symptom of youth. 

31 Doctor Fischer of Geneva or The Bomb Party; Graham Greene - Gotta love a book with an alternate title built in. This is a broad (the characters? are, without exception, insane?!) satire about a world I know little about. I don’t have a lot of patience or interest in Greene’s religious allegories, but it’s a fine enough story. 

32 Lathe of Heaven; Ursula K LeGuin - Near-future sci-fi that is incredibly prescient about the effects of climate change for a book written over forty years ago. The book has amazing world-building, and the first half has the whirlwind feel of Homer going back in time, killing butterflies and returning to the present to see what changes he has wrought. 

33 The Grammarians; Cathleen Schine - Rarely have I read a book whose jacket description of the plot seems so very distant from what actually happens therein. 

34 The Boy Kings: A Journey Into the Heart of the Social Network; Katharine Losse - Losse was one of Facebook’s very earliest employees, and she charts her experience with the company in this memoir from 2012. Do you even recall what Facebook was like in 2012? They hadn’t even altered the results of elections yet! Zuck was a mere MULTI-MILLIONAIRE, probably. Were we ever so young?

35 Invisible Women; Caroline Ciado Perez - If you want to read a book that will make you angry, so angry that you repeatedly assail whoever is around with facts taken from it, then this, my friend, is the book for you. 

36 The Hidden World of the Fox; Adele Brand - A really charming look at the fox from an ecologist who has studied them around the world. Much of it takes place in the UK, where urban foxes take on a similar ecological niche that raccoons famously do where I live, in Toronto. 

37 S; Doug Dorst & JJ Abrams - This is a real mindfuck of a book, consisting of a faux-old novel, with marginalia added by two students which follows its own narrative. A difficult read not because of the density of prose, but the sheer logistics involved: read the page, then the marginalia? Read the marginalia interspersed with the novel text? Go back chapter by chapter? I’m not sure that either story was worth the trouble, in the end. 

38 American War; Omar El Akkad - This is not exclusively, but partially a climate-based speculative novel, or, grossly, cli-fi for short. Ugh, what a term! But this book is a really tight, and realistic look at the results of a fossil-fuels-based second US Civil War. 

39 Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation; Andrew Marantz - This is the guy you’ll hear on every NPR story talking about his semi-embedding within the Extremely Online alt-right. Most of the figures he profiles come off basically how you’d expect, I found his conclusions about the ways these groups have chosen to use online media tools to achieve their ends the most illuminating part. 

40 Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm; Isabella Tree - This is the story of a long process of transitioning a rural acreage (more of an estate than a farm, this is aristocratic shit) from intensive agriculture to something closer to wild land. There are long passages where Tree (ahem) simply lists species which have come back, which I’m sure is fascinating if you are from the area, but I tended to glaze over a bit. Experts from around the UK and other European nations weigh in on how best to rewild the space, which places the project in a wider context. 

FICTON: 17     NONFICTION: 23

[littlereyofsunlight]

Time for another Q&A meme. I was tagged by @steggyisimmortal AND @beautifulwhensarcastic!

Dogs or cats? Don’t make me choose, that’s evil. (I have a cat currently, though, and she is AMAZING.)

YouTube celebrities or normal celebrities? I cannot stress how little YouTube I watch. So, normal celebrities, which is an oxymoron if ever I heard one.

If you could choose to live anywhere, where would it be? You know that B plot in an Office episode where Pam and Jim sort of fight their way into dreaming up their perfect fantasy house? Yeah my 4-bedroom, 2.5 bath farmhouse with a finished attic writing nook and a woodshop in the back on 3-5 bucolic acres including a small orchard, a 15 minute walk into the heart of town where the library is, 30 minutes via public transit from NYC, 15 minutes by car from my job and also only 2 hours from my family? Does not exist. Where I live now is not so bad, though.

Disney or Dreamworks? Disney

Favourite childhood TV show? Ghostwriter. I think because you never knew when it was gonna air, so there was a special element of the thrill of the chase. 

The movie you’re looking forward to in 2020? What movies are even still coming out this year? I will be excited to see Wonder Woman and Black Widow when they get released, whenever that is.

Favourite book you read in 2019? That was a good year for books for me! I read Red White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston and then read it two more times for the feeeeeeeels. But also Tana French’s The Witch Elm was so well-crafted and launched me into reading the rest of her Dublin Murder Squad series. And I read Educated in 2019, and was so enthralled by Tara Westover’s harrowing account of her life I finished it in one day.

Marvel or DC? Marvel

If you chose Marvel, favourite member of the X-Men? I grew up watching the cartoon and back then it was Gambit. (We shall not speak of Taylor Kitsch here.) 

Night or day? Day. I’m tired at night.

Favorite Pokémon? Sorry, I’m too old for this question. My friend plays that app game and Bulbasaur seems cute though?

Top 5 bands/artists? Tegan & Sara, Brandi Carlile, Janelle Monaé, Beyonce, Sara Bareilles

Top 10 books? In no particular order:

Life After Life, Kate Atkinson

One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

I Know This Much is True, Wally Lamb

Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott

Atonement, Ian McEwan

The Trumpet of the Swan, E. B. White

The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende

The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood

The Duchess Deal, Tessa Dare

Top 4 movies? In no particular order:

Star Wars

The Birdcage

Zodiac

Singin’ in the Rain

US or Europe? Huh? 

Tumblr or Twitter? Tumblr

Favourite vacation destination? I would go back to Florence in a heartbeat. 

Favourite YouTuber? No, really, I don’t watch YouTube like that. Is Anna Arkana still making videos? She did fun stuff.

Favourite author? I’ll buy anything Tessa Dare publishes. Every Margaret Atwood I’ve read has challenged me in a new way. Nora Ephron’s writing is so damn human but also it’s perfect? 

Tea or coffee?  Coffee

OTP? Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers (I mean, I have a list of a dozen or more but Steggy is the main reason this blog exists, so.)

Do you play an instrument or sing? I can carry a tune.

Tagging: @roboticonography @geekynerddemon @plumandfinch @teaandatale @indiefic @beth-is-rainpaint

[kxowledge]

I've seen your Goodreads account and I'm in awe and a bit jealous of the amount you've read thus far. I personally did not, unfortunately, have the time to read any books due to lack of time and finance. I was just wondering where you get/buy your books. Love, M.

I totally understand, I always findmyself lusting for new books and then I look at the price and take a step back, because realistically I can’t afford it. 

Mostly I don’t pay for the books Iread and the big bulk of it comes from:

Libraries – I’m lucky to live close to a big public library (that also lends ebooks and had books in English) and I’m in love with the university library. Most of what I read comes from there.

Free e-books – I bought an iPad mini about five years ago and I love it (yes, 200€ is a lot, but it’s also… 20 books or less given an average cost of 10€, and you can get a kindle for less - I talked more about this here), and pre-1920 books in their original language are copyright free (see: x, x, x, x, x, x, but also on amazon). Look them up on the internet as well (for example, I am currently working my way through Lovecraft’s works and here you can find most of it)

I exchange books with my grandmother (recently she gave me a book with the works of Gide, I gave her Balzac’s La Peau de chagrin) and my friends (recently I lent In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri to a friend and received Gogol’s Dead Souls by another).  There is a book exchange at my university too (I recently got a textbook on Magic, Witchcraft and Religion! ). Also,most of the time I ask books as gifts (my mom got me Educated by Tara Westover for my birthday!). 

I volunteer at a lab and they often pay me in amazon gift cards that I use on kindle books, this technically doesn’t count as free, but still. 

I tried Net Galley, but it’s not my thing, sorry. However, you might like it. 

I also set aside a small allowance to spend solely on books and indulge in recent releases or specific translations/editions. Typically I rummage through book fairs and vintage markets that often sell books for 1-2€. Alternatively, AbeBooks often has used books for real cheap! (and there are many other additional used books stores if you live in the UK or the US)

And if you want to venture into the illegal side – this is where you’ll have the highest probability of finding the book you are searching for.

[firstdraftmarginalia]

Becoming by Michelle Obama - checked out 5,860 times.

[yunisdwi3]

Written By: Tara Westover

Narrated By: Julia Whelan

Date: February 2018

Duration: 12 hours 11 minutes

Summary: #1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER • One of the most acclaimed books of our time: an unforgettable memoir about a young woman who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University

“An amazing story, and truly inspiring. It’s even better than you’ve heard.”—Bill Gates

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW • ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • BILL GATES’S HOLIDAY READING LIST • FINALIST: National Book Critics Circle’s Award In Autobiography and John Leonard Prize For Best First Book • PEN/Jean Stein Book Award • Los Angeles Times Book Prize

Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

“Beautiful and propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of [Westover’s] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?”—Vogue

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • O: The Oprah Magazine • Time • NPR • Good Morning America • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • The Economist • Financial Times • Newsday • New York Post • theSkimm • Refinery29 • Bloomberg • Self • Real Simple • Town & Country • Bustle • Paste • Publishers Weekly • Library Journal • LibraryReads • BookRiot • Pamela Paul, KQED • New York Public Library.

[blprompt]

British Library digitised image from page 184 of "Westover's Ward [A novel.]"

Image taken from: Title: "Westover's Ward [A novel.]" Author(s): Ridgeway, Algernon, pseudonym [i.e. Anna Cogswell Wood] [person] British Library shelfmark: "Digital Store 012637.e.11" Page: 184 (scanned page number - not necessarily the actual page number in the publication) Place of publication: London (England) Date of publication: 1892 Publisher: Richard Bentley Type of resource: Monograph Physical description: 3 volumes (8°) Explore this item in the British Library’s catalogue: 003099976 (physical copy) and 014823751 (digitised copy) (numbers are British Library identifiers) Other links related to this image: - View this image as a scanned publication on the British Library’s online viewer (you can download the image, selected pages or the whole book) - Order a higher quality scanned version of this image from the British Library Other links related to this publication: - View all the illustrations found in this publication - View all the illustrations in publications from the same year (1892) - Download the Optical Character Recognised (OCR) derived text for this publication as JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) - Explore and experiment with the British Library’s digital collections The British Library community is able to flourish online thanks to freely available resources such as this. You can help support our mission to continue making our collection accessible to everyone, for research, inspiration and enjoyment, by donating on the British Library supporter webpage here. Thank you for supporting the British Library. from BLPromptBot https://ift.tt/2ETglVh

[irisandsnowbookshelf]

Educated: A Memoir

Tara Westover

****#1 NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW • ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • BILL GATES’S HOLIDAY READING LIST • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE’S AWARD IN AUTOBIOGRAPHY • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE’S JOHN LEONARD PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST BOOK • FINALIST FOR THE PEN/JEAN STEIN BOOK AWARD 

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post •* O: The Oprah Magazine* • Time • NPR • Good Morning America *• *San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian *• The Economist • *Financial Times • Newsday • New York Post • theSkimm • Refinery29 • Bloomberg • Self • Real Simple •* Town & Country* • Bustle • Paste • Publishers Weekly • Library Journal • LibraryReads • BookRiot • Pamela Paul, KQED • New York Public Library**

An unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University ** Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home. ** “Beautiful and propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of [Tara Westover’s] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?”—*Vogue***

“Westover has somehow managed not only to capture her unsurpassably exceptional upbringing, but to make her current situation seem not so exceptional at all, and resonant for many others.”—The New York Times Book Review

[paludal-paws]

last updated 3/13/24

🪷 - names: eden/dominic/hero/bowser :3 im a lover of nicknames tho you can call me whatever the hell u want

🌌 - pronouns: trash/he/hazard/it predominantly (but i also generally use any nounself pronouns so just go wild)

🪱 - interests: omori, ddlc, flight rising, my ocs, ghost quartet, natasha pierre & the great comet of 1812, head over heels (musical); among other minor things

🌧️ - PLEASE PLEASE ask me about my ocs. whether you’re into fucked up laboratories (tropical miasma), sentient libraries (westover public library), various ghosts and creatures (anthogeist), or limbo for forgotten ocs (requiem city) have we got a show for you . hahahaha <- normal

🔭 - tags:

#brookposting - my rambles

#edanswers - asks

#my art and #my ocs - self explanatory

#love this posts - fave tag

#oc masterlist - big ol list of all my ocs!!

-> i trigger tag using the tags “cw xyz” (xyz being the possibly triggering thing), sometimes i forget to tag things so if there’s anything i should’ve tagged let me know. i don’t often fandom tag my posts

🍇 - @boghowler on disc. come say hi

🪼 - please use tonetag on me <3

💥 - proship/terf dni😁 i hard/softblock as i please tho

🪸 - no chain asks, but tag games are ok :-)

🐟 - but still shoot me an ask anytime! an art request, or just to chat, i love to talk

[wausaupilot]

Marathon County Public Library Book Clubs: August

Perhaps there's a book on this list that you would enjoy, too!

Nonfiction @ Night: “Educated” by Tara Westover

Aug. 7. Discuss our monthly book club pick about a woman who pursues an education after being raised by survivalist parents who isolated her and her siblings from mainstream society. 6 p.m. 715-687-4420. MCPL Stratford.

Edgar Book Club: “Send Down the Rain” by Charles Martin

Aug. 8. Stop by the Edgar Branch for a lively discussion of Martin’s 2018…

[itunesbooks]

Educated - Tara Westover

#1  NEW YORK TIMES, WALL STREET JOURNAL,  AND  BOSTON GLOBE  BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY  THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW  • ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR • BILL GATES ’S HOLIDAY READING LIST  • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE’S AWARD IN AUTOBIOGRAPHY • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE’S JOHN LEONARD PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST BOOK  • FINALIST FOR THE PEN/JEAN STEIN BOOK AWARD  NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • O: The Oprah Magazine • Time • NPR • Good Morning America • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • The Economist • Financial Times • Newsday • New York Post • theSkimm • Refinery29 • Bloomberg • Self • Real Simple • Town & Country • Bustle • Paste • Publishers Weekly • Library Journal • LibraryReads • BookRiot • Pamela Paul, KQED • New York Public Library An unforgettable memoir about a young girl who, kept out of school, leaves her survivalist family and goes on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home. “Beautiful and propulsive . . . Despite the singularity of [Tara Westover’s] childhood, the questions her book poses are universal: How much of ourselves should we give to those we love? And how much must we betray them to grow up?”— Vogue “Westover has somehow managed not only to capture her unsurpassably exceptional upbringing, but to make her current situation seem not so exceptional at all, and resonant for many others.”— The New York Times Book Review http://bit.ly/2VktKZF

[balkinbuddies]

The American Library Association (ALA) today announced the top books, video and audio books for children and young adults – including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery and Printz awards – at its Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

A list of all the 2019 award winners follows:

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature:

“Merci Suárez Changes Gears,” written by Meg Medina, is the 2019 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by Candlewick. 

Two Newbery Honor Books also were named:

“The Night Diary,” written by Veera Hiranandani and published by Dial/Penguin Random House.

“The Book of Boy,” written by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, illustrated by Ian Schoenherr and published by Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:

“Hello Lighthouse,” illustrated and written by Sophie Blackall is the 2019 Caldecott Medal winner. The book was published by Little, Brown/Hachette.

Four Caldecott Honor Books also were named: 

“Alma and How She Got Her Name,” illustrated and written by Juana Martinez-Neal, published by Candlewick;

“A Big Mooncake for Little Star,” illustrated and written by Grace Lin and published by Little, Brown/Hachette;

“The Rough Patch,” illustrated and written by Brian Lies and published by Greenwillow/HarperCollins

“Thank You, Omu!” illustrated and written by Oge Mora and published by Little, Brown/Hachette. 

Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African-American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults:

“A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919,” written by Claire Hartfield, is the King Author Book winner. The book is published by Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Three King Author Honor Books were selected:

“Finding Langston,” written by Lesa Cline-Ransome and published by Holiday House;

“The Parker Inheritance,” written by Varian Johnson and published by Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic;

“The Season of Styx Malone,” written by Kekla Magoon and published by Wendy Lamb/ Random House/Penguin Random House.

Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award:

“The Stuff of Stars,” illustrated by Ekua Holmes, is the King Illustrator Book winner. The book is written by Marion Dane Bauer and published by Candlewick.

Three King Illustrator Honor Book were selected:

“Hidden Figures,” illustrated by Laura Freeman, written by Margot Lee Shetterly and published by HarperCollins;

“Let the Children March,” illustrated by Frank Morrison, written by Monica Clark-Robinson and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt;

“Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop,” illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, written by Alice Faye Duncan and published by Calkins Creek/ Highlights.

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award: 

“Monday’s Not Coming,” written by Tiffany D. Jackson, is the Steptoe author award winner. The book is published by Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins.

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award:

            “Thank You, Omu!,” illustrated and written by Oge Mora and published by Little, Brown.

Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement: 

Dr. Pauletta Brown Bracy is the winner of the Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. The award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton.

 Dr. Bracy is Professor of Library Science and Director of the Office of University Accreditation at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). She successfully merged scholarship and service with publications such as “Libraries, Literacy and African American Youth” (co-edited with Sandra Hughes Hassell and Casey H. Rawson), her work with the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and with workshops and conferences dedicated to promoting African American books for children and teens. She recently served as co-organizer for Celebrating Our Voices: Black Children’s Literature Symposium and Book Festival held at NCCU.

Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults:

“The Poet X,” written by Elizabeth Acevedo, is the 2019 Printz Award winner. The book is published by HarperTeen/HarperCollins.

Three Printz Honor Books also were named:

“Damsel,” written by Elana K. Arnold and published by Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins

“A Heart in a Body in the World,” written by Deb Caletti and published by Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster

“I, Claudia,” written by Mary McCoy and published by Carolrhoda/Lerner.

Schneider Family Book Award for books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience:

“Rescue & Jessica A Life-Changing Friendship,” written by Jessica Kensky and Patrick Downes, illustrated by Scott Magoon and published by Candlewick (ages 0 to 10).

One honor book for young children was selected:

“The Remember Balloons,” written by Jessie Oliveros, illustrated by Dana Wulfekotte and published by Simon & Schuster.

“The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle,” written by Leslie Connor and published by Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, is the winner for middle grades (ages 11-13).

One honor book for middle grades was selected:

“The Collectors,” written by Jacqueline West and published by Greenwillow/HarperCollins.

“Anger Is a Gift,” written by Mark Oshiro and published by Tor Tom Doherty Associates, is the winner for teens (ages 13-18).

One honor book for teens was selected:

“(Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start the Conversation about Mental Health,” edited by Kelly Jensen and published by Algonquin/Workman.

Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences:

“The Black God’s Drums,” by P. Djèlí Clark, published by Tor.com/Tom Doherty Associates/ Macmillan.

“The Book of Essie,” by Meghan MacLean Weir, published by Knopf/ Random House/ Penguin Random House.

“Circe,” by Madeline Miller, published by Little, Brown/Hachette.

“Educated: A Memoir,” by Tara Westover, published by Random House/Penguin Random House

“The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After,” by Clemantine Wamariya and Elizabeth Weil, published by Crown/Penguin Random House.

“Green,” by Sam Graham-Felsen, published by Random House/ Penguin Random House.

“Home After Dark,” by David Small, illustrated by the author, published by Liveright/ of W.W. Norton.

“How Long ’Til Black Future Month?” By N. K. Jemisin, published by Orbit/ Hachette.

“Lawn Boy,” by Jonathan Evison, published by Algonquin/Walker.

“Spinning Silver,” by Naomi Novik, published by Del Rey/Penguin Random House.

Children’s Literature Legacy Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the U.S., have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences. 

The 2019 winner is Walter Dean Myers, whose award-winning works include “Somewhere in the Darkness,” published by Scholastic (a 1993 Newbery Honor Book), and “Monster,” published by HarperCollins ( a 2000 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book). In addition, Myers received the first Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2010.

Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults:

The 2019 winner is M.T. Anderson. His books include: “Feed;” “The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party;” and “The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves,” all published by Candlewick Press.

2020 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award recognizing an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children's literature, who then presents a lecture at a winning host site.

Neil Gaiman will deliver the 2020 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. Born in England, Gaiman is a U.S resident. His work has been honored with many awards internationally, including the Newbery Medal. He is credited with being one of the creators of modern comics, as well as an author whose work crosses genres and reaches audiences of all ages. Gaiman is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama and a vocal defender of the freedom to read. 

Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the U.S, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the U.S.:

“The Fox on the Swing” is the 2019 Batchelder Award winner. Originally published in Lithuanian as “Laime Yra Lape,” the book was written by Evelina Daciūtė, illustrated by Aušra Kiudulaitė, translated by The Translation Bureau and published by Thames & Hudson.

Four Honor Books also were selected:

“Run for Your Life,” published by Yonder/Restless Books, written by Silvana Gandolfi and translated from the Italian by Lynne Sharon Schwartz;

“My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder,” published by Graphic Universe/Lerner, written and illustrated by Nie Jun, originally published in Mandarin and translated from the French by Edward Gauvin;

“Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure,” published by NorthSouth, written and illustrated by Torben Kuhlmann and translated from the German by David Henry Wilson;

“Jerome By Heart,” published by Enchanted Lion Books, written by Thomas Scotto, illustrated by Olivier Tallec and translated from the French by Claudia Zoe Bedrick and Karin Snelson.

Odyssey Award for best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States:

“Sadie,” produced by Macmillan Audio, is the 2019 Odyssey Award winner. The book is written by Courtney Summers, narrated by Rebecca Soler, Fred Berman, Dan Bittner, Gabra Zackman, and more and published by Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press.

Four books Odyssey Honor Audiobooks also were selected:

“Du Iz Tak” produced by Weston Woods Studio/Scholastic, written by Carson Ellis and narrated by Eli and Sebastian D’Amico, Burton, Galen and Laura Fott, Sarah Hart, Bella Higginbotham, Evelyn Hipp and Brian Hull;

“Esquivel! Spaace-Age Sound Artist,” produced by Live Oak Media, written by Susan Wood and narrated by Brian Amador;

“The Parker Inheritance,” produced by Scholastic Audiobooks, written by Varian Johnson and narrated by Cherise Booth;

“The Poet X,” produced by HarperAudio/HarperCollins and written and narrated by Elizabeth Acevedo.

Pura Belpré Awards honoring a Latinx writer and illustrator whose children's books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience:

“Dreamers,” illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales, is the Belpré Illustrator Award winner. The book was published by Neal Porter/Holiday House.

Two Belpré Illustrator Honor Books were named:

“Islandborn,” illustrated by Leo Espinosa, written by Junot Díaz and published by Dial/Penguin Young Readers Group/Penguin Random House

“When Angels Sing: The Story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana,” illustrated by Jose Ramirez, written by Michael Mahin and published by Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

"The Poet X,” written by Elizabeth Acevedo, is the Pura Belpré Author Award winner. The book is published by HarperTeen/HarperCollins.

One Belpré Author Honor Book was named:

"They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid’s Poems," written by David Bowles and published by Cinco Puntos Press.

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children:

“The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science,” written by Joyce Sidman, is the Sibert Award winner. The book is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Five Sibert Honor Books were named:

“Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild,” written by Catherine Thimmesh and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt;

“Spooked! How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America,” written by Gail Jarrow and published by Calkins Creek/ Highlights;

“The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees,” written and illustrated by Don Brown and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt;

“We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga,” written by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Frané Lessac and published by Charlesbridge;

“When Angels Sing: The Story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana,” written Michael Mahin, illustrated by Jose Ramirez and published by Atheneum/Simon & Schuster. 

The Inaugural Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award is being given in 2019 to a digital media producer that has created distinguished digital media for an early learning audience. 

The 2019 in Early Learning Digital Media Award winner is Play and Learn Science, produced by PBS Kids. 

 The committee selected two honor recipients: 

Coral Reef, produced by Tinybop Inc. 

Lexi’s World, produced by Pop Pop Pop LLC. 

Stonewall Book Award - Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award is given annually to English-language children’s and young adult books of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience.

The 2019 recipients are respectively:

“Julián Is a Mermaid,” written by Jessica Love and published by Candlewick

“Hurricane Child,” written by Kheryn Callender and published by Scholastic

Two Honor Books were selected:

“Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World,” written by Ashley Herring Blake and published by Little, Brown/Hachette

“Picture Us in the Light,” written by Kelly Loy Gilbert and published by Hyperion/ Disney.  

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book is:

“Fox the Tiger,” written and illustrated by Corey R. Tabor and published by Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins.

Four Geisel Honor Books were named:

“The Adventures of Otto: See Pip Flap,” written and illustrated by David Milgrim and published by Simon Spotlight/Simon & Schuster;

“Fox + Chick: The Party and Other Stories,” written and illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier and published by Chronicle;

“King & Kayla and the Case of the Lost Tooth,” written by Dori Hillestad Butler, illustrated by Nancy Meyers and published by Peachtree;

“Tiger vs. Nightmare,” written and illustrated by Emily Tetri and published by First Second/Roaring Brook/Holtzbrinck.

William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens is:

“Darius the Great Is Not Okay,” written by Adib Khorram, published by Dial/Penguin Random House.

Four William C. Morris Award Honor Books were named: “Blood Water Paint,” written by Joy McCullough and published by Dutton/Penguin

“Check, Please!: #Hockey,” written and illustrated by Ngozi Ukazu and published by First Second/Macmillan

 “Children of Blood and Bone,” written by Tomi Adeyemi and published by Henry Holt/ Macmillan;

 “What the Night Sings,” written and illustrated by Vesper Stamper and published by Knopf/Penguin Random House.

 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults: 

 “The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees,” written and illustrated by Don Brown, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is the 2019 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults.

Four books were finalists for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults:

 “The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor,” written by Sonia Sotomayor and published by Delacorte/ Penguin Random House;

 “Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam,” written by Elizabeth Partridge and published by Viking/Penguin Random House;

 “The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler,” written and illustrated by John Hendrix and published by Amulet Books/Abrams;

 "Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction," written and illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka and published by Graphix/Scholastic.

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature.  The award promotes Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and is awarded based on literary and artistic merit. The award offers three youth categories including Picture Book, Children’s Literature and Young Adult Literature.  The award is administered by the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), an affiliate of the American Library Association.  Here are this year’s winners:

The Picture Book winner is “Drawn Together,” written by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat and published by Hyperion/Disney;

The Children’s Literature winner is “Front Desk,” written by Kelly Yang and published by Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic;

The Young Adult Literature is “Darius the Great is Not Okay,” written by Adib Khorram and published by Dial/Penguin Random House.

The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. Presented by the Association of Jewish Libraries since 1968, the award encourages the publication and widespread use of quality Judaic literature. Here are this year’s winners:

The Younger Readers winner is “All-of-a-Kind-Family Hanukkah,” by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Paul Zelinsky, published by Schwartz & Wade/Random House

The Older Readers winner is “Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster,” by Jonathan Auxier, published by Amulet/Abrams;

The Teen Readers winner is “What the Night Sings,” by Vesper Stamper, illustrated by the author, published by Knopf/Random House.

Please join us in congratulating all the award winners!

[rocketwerks]

Bellwood

AKA, Auburn Chase, New Oxford, Sheffields, & Defense Supply Center Richmond Officers' Club-Building 42 8000 Jefferson Davis Highway Built, circa 1804 VDHR 020-0007

(VDHR) — Bellwood manor house — 1978 nomination photo

The former Auburn Chase plantation house is a characteristic example of the finely proportioned dwellings erected during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to serve as residences of Virginia planters.

(Find A Grave) — Mr. & Mrs. James Bellwood

Known originally as Sheffields and later as Auburn Chase, Bellwood was a working plantation from 1619 to 1941, except for a twelve year period following the Great Massacre of 1622. The Sheffield family was killed during the massacre, and when the area was pacified the property was acquired by the Gregory family. The Gregorys built the present dwelling house around 1790; nothing is known of the preceding houses. The existing structure is a characteristic example of the wooden, Georgian style architecture favored by most Virginia planters during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Although it has been subjected to later modifications, its architectural integrity has not been significantly diluted.

(LOC) — Battle of Drewry's Bluff, Bellwood — May 15, 1862

In addition to the Great Massacre, Bellwood has been the scene of battles in both the Revolutionary War and the Civil.War. In the latter conflict it was occupted by Union troops. The owner of the property during that period was Major Drewry, who had married into the Gregory family. Drewry later traded the plantation for Westover in Charles City County. In 1887 the house and farmlands were acquired by James Bellwood, who gave the place its present name. Bellwood restored the depleted land and made the farm one of Virginia's chief agricultural showplaces. 

(California State Library) — Souvenir Views of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition — 1915

Bellwood products represented Virginia at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco and won fourteen gold and silver medals as well as the outstanding exhibit award for excellence in competition with international exhibits. From 1900 through the 1930s Bellwood was visited by agriculturists from throughout the world, and its reputation remains even today. A remnant of the Bellwood family's interest in nature is the elk herd, still cared for on the grounds.

(Google Maps) — Defense Supply Center Richmond Officers' Club-Building 42, showing the original manor house portion

In 1941 Bellwood was acquired by the U.S. Government and is now the Defense General Supply Center. The house is maintained as the center's officers' club.

The plan of the house is the basic center-passage plan with a room on each side. Although the interior is now used as an officers' club, much of the early fabric is intact. This includes pine flooring, paneled doors, the stair, and most of the door and window frames. A handsome Adam-style mantel and paneled dado survive in one of the first-floor rooms. A long, one-story wing has been added to the rear in modern times to accommodate the club's service areas.

(Richmond Times-Dispatch) — elks at the Bellwood preserve

The house is located just inside the main gates of the supply center. Although most of the farmland is now occupied by the complex's many buildings, the house retains a pleasant setting. It is situated on a slight rise, surrounded by cedars, oaks, and lawn. A paved, curved drive leads to the portico. Adjacent to the house are twenty-one acres of pasture kept for the maintenance of a herd of seven American elk, descendants of two elk brought to the property by James Bellwood around 1900. (VDHR)

Bellwood was added to the Chesterfield County historic register in 1978, and the good news is that since that time, the elk are still there! The photo above comes from a July 19, 2015 article in the Times-Dispatch on the subject. Good to know that some things stay the same.

March 2017 — DSCR Operations Building

The less good news is that there is no way, no how, for the public to see Bellwood. It may be on the National Register, but it’s also on a military base. A request made to the DSCR Public Affairs Office yielded the response we don't authorize people to come on the installation to take pictures. So this post does not have a picture of what Bellwood looks like today, beyond the Google Maps aerial photo.

It’s understandable, even laudable, that DSCR doesn’t want to compromise security by opening the floodgates; having civilians roaming all over the campus sounds like a problem waiting to happen. However, buildings listed on the registry benefit from tax credits in most cases, so you would think there would be some way they could provide limited public viewing, while restricting access to other areas of the base.

March 2017 — Bellwood Flea Market, 9201 Jefferson Davis Highway

However, you can still the effects of Bellwood Plantation on the surrounding area, reflected in a number of Bellwood-named businesses. Aside from the Flea Market above, there is a Bellwood Credit Union, and a Bellwood Campground, Bellwood Terrace Apartments, not to mention an inevitable Bellwood Road.

(Bellwood is part of the Atlas RVA! Project)

[gingernightowl]

BLOG SPOTLIGHT: Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz

I am so honored to be a part of the blog tour for the paperback release of Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz. Now, I don't usually read memoirs because they're not really my type, but I wanted to be involved in the promoting of such a book. I love boosting debut authors, and in the times of POC being downplayed by white authors -- I knew I had to get involved. While I can't say anything about the book itself, I can assure you that this is a book that was written with heart and soul. One woman's path down drug and sexual abuse, violence, and emotional rollercoasters with depression. Please keep that in mind before picking up Ordinary Girls.

SYNOPSIS:

“There is more life packed on each page of Ordinary Girls than some lives hold in a lifetime.” — Julia Alvarez

Ordinary Girls is a fierce, beautiful, and unflinching memoir from a wildly talented debut author. While growing up in housing projects in Puerto Rico and Miami Beach, Jaquira Díaz found herself caught between extremes: as her family split apart and her mother battled schizophrenia, she was surrounded by the love of her friends; as she longed for a family and home, she found instead a life upended by violence. From her own struggles with depression and sexual assault to Puerto Rico’s history of colonialism, every page of Ordinary Girls vibrates with music and lyricism. Díaz triumphantly maps a way out of despair toward love and hope to become her version of the girl she always wanted to be.

With a story reminiscent of Tara Westover’s Educated, Roxane Gay’s Hunger, and Terese Marie Mailhot’s Heart Berries, Jaquira Díaz delivers a memoir that reads as electrically as a novel.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jaquira Díaz was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Miami. She is the author of Ordinary Girls: A Memoir, winner of a Whiting Award, a Florida Book Awards Gold Medal, and a Lambda Literary Awards finalist. Ordinary Girls was a Summer/Fall 2019 Indies Introduce Selection, a Fall 2019 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Notable Selection, a November 2019 Indie Next Pick, and a Library Reads October pick. Díaz's work has been published in The Guardian, The Fader, Conde Nast Traveler, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and The Best American Essays 2016, among other publications. She is the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes, an Elizabeth George Foundation grant, and fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Kenyon Review, and the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. A former Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s MFA Program in Creative Writing, and Consulting Editor at the Kenyon Review, she splits her time between Montréal and Miami Beach, with her partner, the writer Lars Horn.

WHERE TO PURCHASE:

In lieu of linking to buy links for the white-owned major retailers, I am trying to boost indies and bookstores of Latinx owned. I am in no way affiliated with any of these businesses, this is simply from my own research for this blog post! Please consider purchasing Ordinary Girls from your local independent bookstore. You can also use Bookshop for your convenience if your local indie isn't carrying Ordinary Girls but you still want to support other independent bookstores.

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/books/ordinary-girls-a-memoir/9781616209131

Duende District Bookstore: https://www.duendedistrict.com/fall-2019-favorites/ordinary-girls-a-memoir-by-jaquira-daz

Mil Mindos Books: https://www.milmundosbooks.com/memoir/ordinary-girls-jaquira-daz?rq=ordinary%20girls

Word Up Books: https://wordupbooks.papertrell.com/id004588567/Ordinary-Girls

[ledenews]

June 2, 2020

COVID-10 Update – Ohio County.

Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department is announcing one (1) new positive COVID-19 case in Ohio County.  Currently, the health department reports 41 positive cases, including one death.  Case surveillance, contact tracing and monitoring continues for many of the reported cases. Ohio County and Ohio Valley residents are advised to limit public contact, implement social distancing, work at home where possible, wear a face covering when out in public or at work, wash your hands frequently and contact your personal physician if you become ill with fever, cough, or difficulty breathing. The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department is reminding Ohio Valley residents that if you are tested for COVID-19 that you are to remain in home isolation until you receive negative test results.  Individuals who test positive will be contact by a county health department and receive further instructions in regards to care and monitoring.

Sigh-ups for Little Patriots.

On June 16, the Little Patriots football and Cheering organization will hold sign-ups from 6-8 p.m. at  Generations Pub in the top-floor banquet room. Children ages 7-12 (by July 15.. 6 years old turning 7 by Aug 30) can play and cheer.

Free Clinic.

On Friday and Saturday, June 5-6, 2020, from 9:00am to 4:00pm, the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department will be holding a Free COVID-19 Testing Clinic at Laughlin Chapel, 129 ½ 18th Street, Wheeling, WV 26003. This open clinic is for those with or without symptoms and no insurance is needed. Participants need to bring a driver’s license, photo ID or other proof of address. Patients under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. This is a mass drive up testing clinic and participants will be tested either in their personal vehicles or at a walk-up location. This special clinic is being host by the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department and the Wheeling-Ohio County Emergency Management Agency with support from the West Virginia National Guard, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and the West Virginia Office of Minority Affairs. For more information call the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department at (304) 234-3682.

Helping Hilltoppers.

The pandemic has caused anxiety for all of us, including college students, and West Liberty University’s Foundation wants to help. “We are thrilled to announce that we have received a generous pledge from donor William Brenner, to initiate our Helping Hilltoppers Fund. These emergency funds will be used specifically for students affected by COVID-19 at this time of global crisis,” said WLU Foundation Executive Director Angela Zambito Hill. "We are very grateful to Bill for his generosity.” Brenner, who resides in Chevy Chase, Md., will match the first $10,000 raised dollar for dollar, in memory of his wife Loretta “Lucky” Brenner, alumna. The Helping Hilltoppers fundraising campaign effort kicked off on May 26 and the eligibility of students who will benefit from the donations will be determined by the WLU Office of Financial Aid. Funds will not be available until July. To donate to the Helping Hilltoppers Fund or to ask questions, please call the WLU Foundation office at 304.336.5635, or you may donate online at the secure website: wlufoundation.org/helpwlu. As always, thank you for your time and consideration. #GoWLU

Wheeling Reads.

George Ella Lyon, an award-winning Kentucky poet, was inspired to fill a notebook with short, descriptive lines about where she grew up after reading "Stories I Ain't Told Nobody Yet" by celebrated Tennessee writer, Jo Carson. Eventually, her lists grew into poems, and she realized that “the question of where you are from reaches deep.” Soon after, she began teaching other people to write their own poems called "Where I'm From," which grew into a worldwide phenomenon. Wheeling Reads would like you to hear your own “Where I’m From” poems. We will video record and feature our favorites on the thirtieth of each month. The final winner(s) will be announced at the Upper Ohio Valley Festival of Books this fall. Tell us, readers, where are you from? Send us your own "Where I'm From" poems at wheelingreads@ohiocountylibrary.org. More details at https://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/news/7309. Wheeling Reads is a partnership between the Ohio County Public Library and the Wheeling Arts and Cultural Commission designed to bring our city closer together through the shared experience of reading and discussing the same book. The Wheeling community chose the memoir "Educated," by Tara Westover (2018, Random House), for the inaugural 2020 Wheeling Reads book. Learn more about Wheeling Reads at https://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/progr…/wheeling-reads/7196

Courses Offered.

Wheeling University’s “Summer of Purpose” program offers rising high school seniors, as well as incoming and current students, a dynamic collection of courses to take online throughout the summer. Courses offered during the summer sessions are being discounted to give students a ‘purpose’ this summer, said Wheeling University President Ginny R. Favede. The program isn’t just for Wheeling University students. For the first time, the institution is offering rising high school seniors the opportunity to take collegiate level courses. All classes will be taught by Wheeling University faculty in the Catholic, educational tradition. The next “Summer of Purpose” session for incoming and current students begins June 29 and continues through August 11. To learn more about the “Summer of Purpose” program contact the Wheeling University Office of Admissions at 304-243-2389, 1-800-624-6992 or admiss@wju.edu. Read the full article